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Between Two Tigers

Characters:Vanya, Tendril, OkhotnikRated: PG-13 LanguageSummary:Enroute to track down her friend, Okhotnik, Lexi runs across another tiger scent and curiously follows it, running into a slightly drunken Vanya….and then Okhotnik follows.OOC Date: December 23, 2017IC Date: December 23, 2017Where: A rooftop in Mutant Town

It's another evening in Mutant Town, with the streets growing darker earlier in the winter chill. Still, Christmas cheer is in the air even here, with a variety of lights and decorations on many of the buildings and stores as people step off the public buses bringing them back home, or switch out their shifts, depending.

Among the homeless that populate the back alleys and street corners of the district, it's time to start looking for a place to stay for the night. Some prefer to stay on the streets for one reason or another, but most head to the shelters and food kitchens to get by, which are staffed by volunteers. Such as the purple girl currently padding down the street, dressed lightly for the weather but seemingly unbothered by the cooler air. Then agin, it's not really cold for another hour or so, once the sun is down, but she has reasons she tends to prefer lighter clothing, or at least exposing more skin than most would.

Right now she's turning into an alleyway as she peers around, apparently hunting someone down as she sniffs the air quietly, her head turning back and forth as she follows the faint tigery-y scent.

The smell is faint but growing stronger as the young woman wanders into the darker alleyway. A breeze rustles loose newspapers sticking out of a trash can and up above, something orange moves along the edge of the roof line.

Two stories off the ground, a chimeric leg and tail are dangling from the eaves, covered in unmistakable orange and black stripes but also strangely human in basic physique. A bipedal tiger wouldn't be the strangest being in Mutant Town.

What is actually marginally more common in Mutant Town in recent years, however, has been the mysterious, untraced presence of a full-on quadrupedal tiger. No one knows where it comes from - or if thye do, they aren't talking - and no one knows when it's going to show up, how or why. But it has been seen here, off and on, now and again, for years.

What it is not doing, however, is lounging in an alley as darkness falls.

Instead, the enigmatic homeless woman known as Hunter, who seems to watch over a particular group of homeless, is in an alley nearby, checking on her people. "They say snow." she murmurs, mush-mouthed, to one of hers. "Should go to tunnels." But it seems her people don't want to go to the tunnels, perhaps because some of them are afraid Spitter will still be down there.

Lexi gets to a certain point then stops, a bit confused now as she turns back and forth. Two scents? One is fairly familiar by this point. The other is…new. Her golden eyes flick up to that tigery leg that's currently dangling over the edge of the rooftop as she hesitates. That's definitely -someone- tigerish. Can Diya turn into a tiger person as well as a tiger? It's like a werewolf thing…kinda…right?

After a moment of though, the young woman extrudes a pair of tentacles from her back, curling them up to grab hold of a signpost and quickly and efficiently scales the building tendrils pushing out of the back of her calves as well, until she can poke her head over the edge of the rooftop to check.

A bit away from the leg. It does not do to startle tigers. Or tiger people.

Lexi needn't worry as the tiger leg turns out to be attached to a thick tiger thigh, and then the rest of a weretigress who's laying flat on her back and watching the ruby-tinted clouds of dusk while drinking from a beer bottle. She large in a cowing, predatory way that belies physical size, with thick but sinewy limbs beneath a full winter coat that attest to her genetic heritage. A long tail sways idly between her legs, and after a few audible gulps as the dark brew splashes past her fangs, the brown glass *clinks* against the rooftop and Vanya thumps her chest and lets out a hearty, roaring belch. She's been up here for a while.

Hunter spends her time chivvying her people, their blankets, boxes and other possessions deeper into the alleyway, towards one of the entrances that leads down into the tunnels. She rather negligently hefts the grate off of the entrance, and then helps the others down. She has picked up the scent of the other tiger in the area, but the tiger has not come any closer to her or hers, so she has been leaving it alone. Perhaps once all of her people are safe below, she may decide to check it out.

The young mutant hesitates, just…observing for the moment. So. Yup. Naked, drunk tiger girl on the roor. Seems like she's the more calm sort of drunk, so far. All the same, Lexi hikes herself up with her tendrils to balance on the edge of the roof at the corner, about halfway down from the woman in question. "Um…hello?" she says, a bit uncertainly. Okay, it's not who she was looking for, but it's definitely someone she hasn't seen around here before..or scented around here before. This isn't a tiger challenge thing, is it? She hopes not. Tigers fighting is not approved of. By her, mostly. "Um…ya okay over there?" she says, clasping her hands behind her back as she rests on the balls of her feet.

The tigress' tail flicks aside and she sits up slowly, catching Lexi in a bronze gaze that hangs hungrily on the young mutant as her brow furrows. Vanya's shoulder shifts and something pops audibly in her neck. "Da, of course. I was watching the clouds," the hybrid growls, her voice distorted bestially more than by any accent. "What the heck are you?"

For the moment, Hunter continues helping her people get settled in the tunnels. Once they are settled, she hops back out - doesn't even touch the ladder when she does so - and puts the grate back in place. "Be back." she murmurs, mush-mouthedly, and then slinks off, making her way down the block and across the street. Now. Where is that scent coming from?

Lexi frowns a bit at that, then motions to her purple glorious-ness. "Well, let's see. Yer in mutant town. I'm purple. Three guesses, first two don't count." she says dryly. She hops off the edge of the roof, padding forward slightly on booted feet. She moves very quietly, very balanced as she does, her tendrils pulling back into her back and calves as she does, disappearing save for a faint swirl of darker purple on her skin. "Haven't seen ya around before…ah…" She looks around. "…did ya lose yer clothes?"

The were-tiger looks down at herself then back at the patterned mutant. "No, left them under a rock. I've got thick fur," she responds, tugging at the long coat that falls down her chest. "What do I need clothes for?"

Lifting her chin, Vanya pads a slow circle around Lexi, sniffing as she does. "So you're one of those new mutants I keep hearing about? Did your mother eat too many blueberries?"

Following the hints of ears and nose far sharper than they have any right to be, Hunter moves down several buildings, and bounds between the walls of an alley as she ascends quickly to a rooftop, then peers out past an HVAC installation towards the source she has picked up … watching Lexi. And a tiger woman.

Irony. Thy name may well be Vanya.

The mauve mutant stays on the balls of her feet, not looking panicked but balanced to move if she needs to as she turns her head to follow Vanya to one side, then to the other to continue watching. "No idea." she says simply. "But yeah, prob'ly onna those mutants they've got around here." She purses her lips a bit, eyeing the weretiger. "…I guess it's like a fur bikini." she allows after a moment.

"''Fur bikini''?" Vanya echoes in confusion as she stalls slightly to Lexi's side, setting a hand boredly on her hip. Her eyes flit towards the large air conditioning unit on a nearby building before returning to the mauve mutant.

Hunter watches tensely. She can see that's Lexi over there. In spite of herself, Lexi is one of Hunter's people. And there's a tiger woman over there staring at Lexi.

A tiger. Woman.

What the Hells?!

"Er, I mean, the fur, it covers up th' important. bits. Um, mostly." She's totally not going to look to see if that's entirely true in detail, of course. That would be….well, rude. Or weird. Or possibly get her smacked. One of the three. "I guess long as yer warm?" She shrugs a bit, then says. "Ah..I'm Lexi, who are you? Haven't seen ya in this area before." She'd have remembered!

The tigress parts her lips to give the mutant a toothy smile. "Vanya," she purrs, a sound that rumbles deep in her chest. "An' da, it has to be much colder than this for me to care."

Lexi needn't worry about staring. In Summer perhaps, but the tigress' kittens are well-covered by their winter coats, as is the rest of the muscular beast-woman.

The tiger woman is crowding Lexi, but isn't threatening her. If she's not threatening her, Hunter really shouldn't shoot her, or try to go over there and kill her. But her palms are itching, and her fingers are aching. Damnit.

Lexi raises her chin, a bit pugnaciously as she's crowded, then says in slightly accented Russian with a faintly Moscow accent. <Oh, you're from overseas? Or are you the daughter of someone who came over?> She seems genuinely curious, though her eyes remain desperately locked more or less on Vanya's face lest they stray somewhere else. Now she understands why video game animal people wear pants. And tops. <And you're not a mutant, if you don't know what one is?> she adds curiously after a moment.

Vanya's smile grows a little wider at Lexi's defiance and her eyes narrow into a 'playfully' intimidating glare, until her expression is stolen by a look of comical surprise. <You speak Rrrussian?!> the were-tiger blurts loudly before roaring jovially. Like her speaking voice, the Soviet's laughter is distorted into a sound barely human, and might be alarming coming from a predator standing so nearby.

<Finally, civilization! I'm from overseas alrrright, I *$!@ing swam here from the motherland!> Pausing to scrutinize the mauve mutant in her midriff shirt anew, Vanya takes a step forward and slams her palm into Lexi's shoulder - a 'pat' that might startle a rugby hooker.

Vanya's smile grows a little wider at Lexi's defiance and her eyes narrow into a 'playfully' intimidating glare, until her expression is stolen by a look of comical surprise. <You speak Rrrussian?!> the were-tiger blurts loudly before roaring jovially. Like her speaking voice, the Soviet's laughter is distorted into a sound barely human, and might be alarming coming from a predator standing so nearby.

<Finally, civilization! I'm from overseas alrrright, I *$!@ing swam here from the motherland!> Pausing to scrutinize the mauve mutant in her midriff shirt anew, Vanya takes a step forward and slams her palm into Lexi's shoulder - a 'pat' that might startle a rugby hooker. <And you're the purplest Russian I've ever seen. Your from Pskov or did you just learn that in school?>

Heightened senses would pick up the metallic sound of the racking of a semi-automatic's slide, the jacking of a bullet into the chamber as a heavy pistol is readied suddenly and its hammer drawn back, ready to fire. Damn tiger woman just attacked Lexi! Rar!

Lexi oofs, swaying at the impact. <Well, I used to need to know it because of the Russian mobster types…> she begins, then tenses as she hears the slide, looking over sharply towards the sound as she becomes aware of someone watching! Distracted by naked tiger girl, apparently. She also takes a sidestep to put herself between Vanya and whatever has it…which she blinks a bit as the second scent reaches her. "…Hunter?" she says, a bit uncertainly. "I'm okay!"

Vanya's head whips to the side at least as fast as Lexi's, though the tigress sinks into a ready crouch without bothering to move. Her bronze eyes peer at the air conditioning unit half a roof away, studying it with a preternatural sharpness before licking her lips. <Frrriend of yours?> she purrs hopefully.

"Come out, come out, little mouse! A gun in this town is like throwing paper," she shouts boisterously.

A raspy, mush-mouthed voice calls out from beyond the HVAC structure, "Lex?! Saw her. Saw her hit you!" Dim sunlight glints off of a pistol's barrel as it pokes out, taking very careful aim.

Lex has seen what that pistol can do, entirely too close up. And she knows how uncannily accurate that woman is with the damned thing.

Lexi holds up her hands, slowly at her sides. "She just was pattin' me on th' shoulder a bit..harder than she needed too. I'm fine. I'm tougher than I look." she says, rotating her shoulder a little to demonstrate. With only a faint wince at the bruise she's going to have later. "It's okay, ya can come out? Um…I'm guessin' ya don't know each other?" she says uncertainly, glancing back at Vanya a bit.

The tigress looks from Lexi back to the pistol barely in view and sniffs the air curiously. "Not yet," she replies, raising her arms high overhead and idly stretching her back.
Hunter can hear the Russian accent in Vanya's words. The very last thing she wants is to meet this woman. She doesn't really want to have to kill anyone if it isn't necessary.

Damnit. Don't make it necessary!

Hunter waits a while, a minute or so, before finally stepping to the side, coming out from her cover so that she can be seen. She doesn't look very impressive at all. Just a taller than average, muscularly fit homeless veteran, with a hand canon still leveled towards Vanya. That is not your average 9mm, for sure.

The mutant girl between them ers. "…ooookay. So. No one is gonna kill or shoot each other, right? Cuz it's a real nice night an' I'd rather not get splattered with stuff." Because this has happened in the pass. "…so…ah…Vanya, right? Vanya, this is Hunter? Hunter, this is Vanya. Who apparently likes getting drunk on rooftops as a tiger girl."

Vanya's bronze eyes give Hunter's dirty appearance a brief look before smiling toothily with her arms high and feral physique presented. The tigress chuckles softly to herself as she finishes her stretch and rests her hands on her hips. <Good evening,> she offers first in Russian. "''Hunter''? That's a funny name… you don't look like you can hunt much."
Hunter is not funny. And she is not amused. "You would have no idea." she murmurs, from all the way over on another rooftop. No normal person would expect someone to hear those words.

"You safe?" Hunter asks the mauve girl, raising her voice to be heard. Then she lowers the pistol to her side, lifts it and tucks it away in the back of her belt. Apparently she's not going to shoot Vanya right now.

Lexi ums. "Pretty sure I'm fine?" she says after a moment of thought, looking a bit relieved as the gun is put away. "I mean…ya can probably come over here without bloodshed breakin' out an' stuff." There's a dry tone to her voice now as she glances back at Vanya. "And she's an excellent hunter. She keeps lotsa people fed…"

<Oh is she…> Vanya lifts her chin smugly as Hunter backs down, then suddenly crouches down against the roof and takes two bounding strides before leaping into the air and sailing across the gap between buildings. The tigress lands loudly atop the airconditioning unit beside the ash-blonde woman, hunched on all fours and pinching the metal grate between her fingers and toes.

"You're right, I don't," Vanya purrs gamely as her tail swishes high overhead. Now much closer, the were-woman's sniffs the air anew, hoping to catch a scent of how the weather-beaten sharp-shooter makes her living.

Even as Vanya moves, so does Hunter, breaking into a sprint, the tail of her olive drab coat flapping in the wind she generates as she rushes to the edge of her roof and leaps low, outstretched, landing on her hands and rolling to come up in front of Lex, spinning as the pistol comes out in one hand, a serrated-blade matte-black knife in the other.

And yes, she did that as fast as the tiger woman did. Go figure.

"Stupid. Only arrogant fool charges an armed opponent for no reason, for no gain." Hunter's usual mush-mouth leaks a little, letting some of that razor-edged accent of hers out. Not a lot. But some. "You charge again, I feed you to my people."

Lexi rises up on her tip toes, trying to peer over Hunter's shoulder. "Um, really, I think…" she says, a bit hesitantly. "We probably don't need to, um…" She sighs a bit. "…yer not gonna listen to me, are ya?" she notes in a resigned fashion. "Right, pleased don't kill each other…or try to, anyway…."

Vanya laughs heartily as she ends up trading places with Hunter and lazily rolls forward off the air conditioner and onto her feet. "I was just coming to say 'hi'," she jests with a flippant wave of her hand. "See? No claws, wet chicken."

"Not afraid of you." Hunter responds, again soft-voiced, as if expecting Vanya to hear what no one normal should be able to hear.

Over her shoulder, without turning, she answers Lexi. "She attacks, still I no shoot." That's her way of saying: Hey, don't blame me. The crazy tiger lady leapt across, making what would seem to any reasonable person as a clear bid to attack, and I didn't blow her brains out. So I'm being perfectly restrained, thank you very much.

"Can say hi from there. Or here. No need that." Hunter waves her knife hand vaguely in the air towards where the air of travel would have been.

Scarily, Lexi actually parsed that from Hunter-ese. "Um, maybe just less leaping an' jumping about unexpectedly an' stuff. Then no one gets, like, startled. And shoots or knives or throws someone off a rooftop." She steps a bit to the side. <Please.> she adds to the end of that. "So…uh…" She scratches her hair absently, the strands curling a bit against her fingers. "Makes people less jumpy, I mean."

Vanya chuckles idly to herself as she sniffs at the air around the HVAC unit, then looks back at Hunter with a furrowed brow and an intent stare. "I can say 'hi' but not if I want to smell you, and you smell like cat…" the predator smiles in a way that shows fangs. "Were you rubbing on me while I was sleeping?"
Hunter just snorts, giving her head a momentary shake. "Don't rub."

She's not terribly talkative, this Hunter. Woman of few words, and so mushy-mouthed most of the time. It's annoying, really. Hard to tell how incredibly annoying it is to her, too.

And yeah. Hunter doesn't seem inclined to explain why she smells like cat.

Lexi steps to the side a bit so she's more visible again. "Does that happen a lot to ya?" she asks Vanya curiously, clasping her hands behind her back as she bounces on her toes. Along with other areas that bounce a little at the motion. "I mean, how long have ya been up here, anyway? An' why are ya drinkin' till ya pass out in Mutant Town anyway?"

"<Heck if I know. If it does I sleep through it - and it takes a lot more than that bottle to knock me out,>" Vanya answers in lazy Russian as she saunters along the rooftop, stopping near the gap between buildings. "Will you shoot if I cross again, kitten?"
"Name is Hunter." Hunter offers. "No shoot, you no attack."

Since Vanya asked, Hunter lowers the pistol. But it's not being put away again. She gave that away once, and then the crazy tiger lady decided to provoke her. No more Ms. Nice Hunter.

Lexi rolls her eyes, folding her arms over her chest. <Setting aside the whole grinding on your unconscious body thing, Hunter is a guardian for her people. I try to be too…> She purses her lips slowly, then switched back to English. "Okay, great, no shooting. Still haven't said why yer hangin' out here?"

Vanya purrs as she leaps easily across the gap and flips through the air before landing nimbly on springy legs. <Thank you kindly, comrade,> she replies in sarcastically sweet and noticeably old Russian before padding closer to the pair. The tigress' speech is noticeably dated, nuanced more like a Bolshevik film reel than the modern-day streets of St. Petersburg.
"Silly laws. The police said no drinking on the street, so I'm not on the street," Vanya shrugs, offering English for English. <And what people are those?> she asks curiously of the ash-blonde woman.
"My people." Hunter doesn't seem like she wants to explain things. Damn words. Who needs 'em?

Luckily she has Lexi to help! "The street people here." she clarifies. "Th' ones who come to th' kitchen I volunteer at is near here. She furrows her brow. "Who are yer people, then?" she says curiously. Because she still hasn't said why she was drunk on the top of the building yet in Mutant Town completely! Mostly the first part about why she was on the roof.

"My people?" Vanya echoes in confusion as she points to her furred chest. "Pff, I don't have 'people'." Bending forward at the waist, the tigress leans in to Hunter and sniffs at her again, eyeing the dirty woman quizzically. <So where were you hatched? Your English is even worse than mine…>

"Not hatched." Hunter responds, eyeing the other woman … yet noticeably not intimidated, despite Vanya's height or physicality. There's not a hint of fear in her scent, her voice, her eyes. Indeed, this close it's hard to miss the subtle but omnipresent sense of a predator that emanates from the homeless veteran. She says nothing more, but she doesn't seem the slightest bit non-plussed by the Russian. Indeed, there's a real shrewd awareness in those jade green eyes. And a subtle hint of a golden hue behind them.

Lexi blinks a bit as Hunter responds to the Russian, looking thoughful briefly before she says, in English. "It's not something ya ask 'round here." she says, politely. Or trying to be a peacekeeper, at least. "At least, not when ya first meet someone usually." Or for some time after, in Hunter's case, but Lexi's used to it by this point. "But you're Russian or somewhere around that area, I guess? I'm a New York girl. Grew up here, actually." she says, waving absently over all that is Mutant Town. "Um, yer, ah, not with th' mafia types who've been runnin' around here, are ya?"

<Figure of speech,> Vanya huffs, rolling her eyes before fixating on Hunter again. The sheer lack of response tempers the werewoman's exuberance and she cocks her head slightly as she studies more intently; Lexi's overture for peace goes ignored. Her own eyes are an unnaturally yellow shade for a big cat, a too-light orange that's more akin to molten bronze - piercing and stiff within their sockets in a way that's not quite right for a tiger or a human.
<You understand the language well enough…> "Vy Russkiy?"

One gets the clear impression Hunter isn't missing any of the details, but she doesn't push or pry any further. She just shrugs one shoulder as Vanya questions her further in Russian. She hadn't known that Lexi knew Russian; now she's feeling even more vulnerable, so it's best to just shut it down. "Don't like talk." she answers. Clearly true. Getting her to talk has been exceedingly difficult for Lexi, and she likes Lexi.

"Yeah, she's a quiet one." Lexi confirms, apparently determined to make up for the lack of conversation from Hunter by doing twice as much from her end. "Like I said, impolite ta ask." She pauses. "…also, please don't ask even if ya are impolite." she amends, poking lightly at the tiger woman from the side. "Please?" She looks between the two, pondering the issues of two predators in the same territory. "Um…soooooo…right. Well…uh…visiting for Christmas?" she tries asking Vanya.

<Clearly,> Vanya agrees to the taciturn woman as she stares deep into her faintly bi-colored eyes. Then finally, the tigress straightens back up and turns to Lexi as her tail lashes behind her. <That just means she needs more alcohol to loosen up.> The werewoman scoffs at the mention of Christmas. <I got bored and swam here. I thought I might see some new creatures and I heard you had some crazy mutie ghetto… it is nice walking around without the police after me,> Vanya admits as she pulls her arms over her head and stretches again.

"Don't drink." Hunter responds, simply. "Doesn't work." That said, she just listens, keeping her place. But she does not like it when Lexi gets upset, and when the others' rude words upset the mauve mutant girl, she tenses slightly, trying to decide if it is enough to be worth teaching this Vanya a lesson. Lexi clearly doesn't want her to fight, which is probably the most convincing thing that keeps her from doing something right now.

For a moment, the mauve girl actually stops, her eyes widening slightly at the 'mutie ghetto' comment as she makes a noise in her throw, blinking. A bit like a cat flicked in the forehead, before her metaphorical ears fold back, her eyes narrowing slightly. "…swam here." she says, a bit flatly now as she folds her arms. And sounding like she doesn't believe that at all. Tigers swim! But not, like, oceans! "Right. Th' cops are after ya where yer from?"

For a moment, the mauve girl actually stops, her eyes widening slightly at the 'mutie ghetto' comment as she makes a noise in her throat, blinking. A bit like a cat flicked in the forehead, before her metaphorical ears fold back, her eyes narrowing slightly. "…swam here." she says, a bit flatly now as she folds her arms. And sounding like she doesn't believe that at all. Tigers swim! But not, like, oceans! "Right. Th' cops are after ya where yer from?"

Vanya glances flatly to Hunter at the deadpanned response before turning back to Lexi and flexing an arm, swelling her fur with a picturesque mound of a bicep and a broad lat. "Da, swam," she confirms, fondly patting her well-developed side. There's little in the way of feminine grace under the tigress' coat; the werewoman's body is winterized testosterone - which might explain her attitude.
<Only if I start a fight,> Vanya replies with a chuckle and a cocky smile. <You think I can walk around like this without milk sop Yankees panicking? At least here I can be a tiger in peace.>
If Hunter really were an American veteran? Those would have been words that earned a chance to find out if that pistol's caliber is enough to really teach the cat a lesson in manners. Instead? She doesn't seem to twitch at all. She understood every word; she has proven that at this point, even if she hasn't admitted it. But she acts as if she didn't hear a thing. As for cops? If only it were that damned simple.

<Japanese?> Vanya scoffs. <Bull. I'm more evolved, not less. And there's history with standing in /New York City/ too but you don't see me unionizing factories and torching shopping malls.>

Setting her hands on her hips, the tigress paces restlessly over to her beer bottle and pinches it between her toes in order to flick it up and catch it with a quick swipe of her hand. It's time for another drink, it seems.

< this country is boring!> Vanya grouses as she lowers her now empty glass.

Lexi rolls her eyes. "It's like callin' someone from Russia a 'pinko Commie traitor' or somethin'." she points out, watching as the tiger woman walks over to snag up her bottle again. "…what do ya do for fun, anyway?" she says, mostly out of curiosity after a moment.

<And good *$!@ing riddance,> Vanya growls, for once agreeing with something out of the ash-blonde woman's mouth before her attention returns belatedly to Lexi… almost. <Yeah, they're all *$!@ing modern and self-absorbed now,> she adds distastefully.

<I sleep, I eat, and I play,> the tigress flippantly answers to the mauve mutant. <Except there's almost nothing good to eat or play with in this city… You wouldn't know any werewolves, would you?>

"Well, yeah, I know that! That's why it's a stupid insult, an' mutie is like callin' a black person th' n word!" She frowns a bit, then VAnya asks her question. It's minor, but it's there for the sharp-eyed….Lexi twitches at the question about werewolves, just a bit. "I…do not know any werewolves." she says. Very precisely and carefully! "There are some people who are kinda wolf-like or big and tough around here. I've heard there's a bar not far from here that has a really tough bouncer, an' stuff. But it's probably not a good idea ta get inta fights if yer kinda an illegal immigrant or whatever…" she says with a frown.

"Grace strong." Hunter opines, quietly. "No wolves near here. Spider. Shark. Uhm. One bear. No wolves." Because Hunter lives on the streets - and in the tunnels under these streets - in Mutant Town every day and every night for nearly six years. She knows who and what is around. "Challenge Grace. She make tiger pretzel." That's Hunter's opinion if Vanya gets uppity at the bouncer at Chaney's.

Vanya's ears perk at the mention of 'strong' and just like that her attention is back on Hunter with her tail swishing high overhead. <Grace? Who is she? And where are the shark and bear?> she asks with an excited smile that lasts until her next thought.

<…Wait. You mean a shark and bear like I'm a tiger, or the normal kind?>

"Den's up north of kitchen, under pawn shop." Hunter answers Lex about the bear. "Meant like you are tiger." Not like Hunter herself is a tiger. She hasn't gotten into that at all. And won't be, thanks. Not yet. "Shark is enforcer for Evos." The Evos, likely unknown to Vanya thus far, happen to be a mutant mob organization, a step above a simple street gang, operating out of and mostly within Mutant Town. But lately they have been largely muscled out by the bratva.

<They sound promising… I'll need to go visit them,> Vanya considers, smiling as easily at Hunter now as if they were drinking buddies. <And how about you?> she asks casually of Lexi. <You're… what, part octopus? Octopus and blueberries?>

Lexi huffs. "I am NOT an octopus or a blueberry!" she protests, loudly! "It's just what I can do…" She grumbles a bit, folding her arms. "Don't make me throw ya off th' roof or somethin'…."

But Hunter is not pleased, because Vanya insulted and upset Lexi. The veteran woman moves over and bumps her hip against Lex's. "Ignore." she murmurs. Lex would feel bad if she threw someone off the roof. So, best to avoid that.

Lexi sniffs. "I'm not going ta really do it…" she grumbles, then peers at Vanya. "…wait, so ya just swam out here so ya could hang out naked in yer fur an' get drunk on rooftops? Where are ya staying then?" she says, a faint note of concern in her voice. "I mean…it can get weird out here at night sometimes.."

"Stay on roof. In alley." Hunter offers. Because why the heck not? It's what she does every day, all the time. Why can't the alcoholic Ruskie catgirl bully do it too?

"Wet chicken," Vanya snickers at Lexi's refusal before spreading her arms wide for a large shrug. <Anywhere, really - except alleys, they stink,> she adds with a pointed glance to Hunter - Exhibit A.

<And I swam out here for a change of scenery,> the tigress adds, gazing around at the city. <It's *changed* at least - and sometimes the people I meet are purple.>

"…what th' hell does that even mean? Why does th' chicken have to be wet? Is it like a winter thing an' th' chicken is freezing? Is it crossing a road? What's up with this chicken?!?" Lexi says, exasperatedly. <And anywhere stinks if you have to live without a shower.> she continues in Russian. <You'll stink like that booze after this, if it gets in yer fur.>

Lexi mmphs, then frowns. "…yeah, I should get back to the kitchen, I'm late for my shift now…" she admits after a moment, before looking back at Vanya. "…if ya need food, it's just down th' street, on th' right. Ya can get a decent meal there, if ya get there early enough. It's first come first served though…an' no booze." she says, glancing at the bottle. "But it's off th' street if ya wanna warm up too." She starts to go with Hunter's tongue. "…see ya around tiger girl."